Cyberbaiting is on the rise in classrooms across the country. A version of cyber bullying, cyberbaiting occurs when a student irritates or baits a teacher until the teacher gets so frustrated they either yell or have a breakdown. Students awaiting this breakdown are at the ready with cameras and cell phones to record the crack, and often proceed to post the footage on various online platforms. A simple YouTube search finds dozens of videos of teachers "flipping out" to the mocking laughter of students.

In today's technological society, a growing number of children engage in daily use of smartphones and other handheld devices, providing a unique opportunity for teachers to integrate learning and technology. Below is a list of five, free educational apps, which can be easily integrated into lesson plans and used to cultivate interest in educational subjects.

By this point, anyone paying attention to trends in education is familiar with the concept of a flipped classroom. In this model, the teacher assigns the lectures as "homework” in video form and then works with the students by going through what usually would have been assigned for homework in class. The model has a lot of advantages. It allows students to work at their own pace, and for the teacher to give extra help where it’s needed.

The Teaching Channel is one of those resources that has sprung up over the past few years and has really begun to shine. It’s a unique case where teachers can find practical lesson plans, classroom management tools, and pedagogical tips from other teachers in a professional and easy to navigate way. I’ve yet to be disappointed in anything that Teaching Channel puts out, but with so many high quality videos a teacher with limited time may not know where to start. Here’s a few of my suggestions:

Yesterday, the College Board announced several new changes to the SAT. These changes include returning to a 1,600 scale, removing the penalty for wrong answers, making the essay optional, exchanging pretentious vocabulary words and math problems for more practical and useful questions, and aligning the test with the Common Core Standards.

Whether you’re looking into flipping your classroom or you just want to spice up a lesson, short, content-rich video is the way to go. If you’re looking for the perfect clip to get your students excited about your subject, check out this list of our favorite Youtube channels:
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With the recent blog entry about using badges in the classroom, this seems a good time to write about how to leverage gamification in your classroom. The two concepts often go hand in hand, with badges being an excellent way to add a level of gamification.

As school cheating scandals continue to make headlines, the need for secure testing measures has never been greater. Despite the debate over standardized tests, these assessments provide invaluable information on student growth, and with developing technology may become safer than ever before.

There's always a lot of talk about what apps are good for student use in the classroom – which apps teach math or reading the best or which apps students can use to make presentations. Well, as the school year begins, we thought that we'd recommend the best apps for teachers to use in their classroom.
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When you talk to educators about professional development, there tends to be a mindset that favors events like conferences, workshops, and webinars. Even though studies have shown that these forms of professional development are limited in their success, teachers still cling to them as ways to connect with other educators and get new ideas. That's not to say that these forms of professional development are entirely without merit, just that by relying on these staples we close ourselves to other opportunities.
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Looking for something new to spice up your lessons? Check out our top resources of the month!Storybird – This is such a great tool. Available in both free and pay versions, this website allows you and your students to create picture books with relative ease. Have younger students? They'll love selecting art from all the available options and watching their story come alive. Teach an art class? Your students can upload and share their own art. Seriously, the true potential of this tool is endless.
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I’ll admit it: as a student, I loathed math and science. In fact, one of the determining factors in selecting my college major was how little math and science was required to get my degree. I also figured that I had enough trouble solving my own problems as a college freshman without having to solve x’s problems, too. Besides, as an aspiring professional violinist, I was engrossed in practicing music, oblivious to the fact that math, science, and music significantly overlap. In my sage adulthood, I now realize that I didn’t hate math and science – I just hated how it was taught to me.
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There are many benefits to having students in a “one-to-one” classroom, where each student has access whenever needed to an Internet-connected device. One-to-one classrooms can differ both with regard to the tools they use and the manner in which those tools are employed. Some 1:1 classrooms, for example, have a class set of iPads at their disposal; others use laptops, netbooks, or tablet computers. In every case, however, the key to a 1:1 classroom is that the tech devices being used are not shared with other classrooms (as is the case with a computer lab or a laptop cart that rotates from classroom to classroom) – instead, the teacher and students know that they will be able to access the devices whenever needed.
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According to a report released by education nonprofit Project Tomorrow, teachers are more likely to use personal mobile devices, including smartphones and tablet computers, than the general public. While 64% of principals and 54% of teachers have regular personal access to mobile devices, only 40% of the general public has access to personal mobile devices according to the data.

While charter and virtual school environments are seen as solutions to modernizing education, the concept of the "hybrid" charter school, or a blended environment, is gaining steam in communities across the country. The schools are combination of both an independent, innovative charter with the technology and online curriculum usually associated with a purely virtual school.
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The internet has revolutionized everything in our lives, from paying bills to shopping and everything in between. Education is now well on its way to being revolutionized by online learning with teachers nationwide taking advantage of new, emerging and often free internet resources. One service in particular that is gaining popularity among teachers is Twitter, the micro-blogging site that allows users to communicate via 140 character transmissions.
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